Container and pump assemblies for products such as liquid soaps which are pumped, as well as products which are sprayed, such as household cleaners, hair spray and perfumes, etc. are known. Such conventional assemblies include a container having a neck and a pump connected to the neck. The pump has an elongated pick-up tube that extends down into the container for pulling up the liquid product stored within the container when the pump is operated. A problem with the prior art assemblies is that the pick-up tube is carried by the pump and the tube is of a length that it reaches the bottom of the container. As a result, when the pump is mounted on the container it must first be placed in an elevated position with the lower end of the pick-up tube above the entrance to the container mouth, after which the pump assembly must then be lowered and mounted to the container. This makes assembling the pump with the container a relatively slow process.
In another type of assembly, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,146, the pick-up tube is molded as an integral part of the container. The problem with this type of construction is that it allows the pump cap to only be mounted in a single orientation relative to the container.